Asset or Liability? Context Matters.

Imagine your life as one long trip, going from one room to the next.  The path that you take and the possible outcomes that you can achieve are pretty much endless.

Now, imagine two different scenarios.  In one scenario, you go from room-to-room with little more than a commitment to ‘forward progress.’ 

Armed with such a mindset, you will visit a lot of rooms and cover a lot of space over the course of your life.  But will you truly be getting anywhere?

Instead, now imagine a scenario whereby each door has a label on it – a plus sign if the door takes you to a place that you specifically want to go and a minus sign if it takes you somewhere that you don’t want to go.

Armed with such clarity, otherwise interesting paths are now more clearly marked as ‘detour’ or ‘dead-end.’ 

Similarly, arduous paths that you might have otherwise avoided, are now spotlighted as ‘this is my exit’ or ‘take this left turn.’

Moral of the story? Having concrete awareness of when a given direction, decision or tactical outcome is an ‘Asset’ and when it is a ‘Liability’ makes the decision-making process suddenly more workable and less arbitrary.

Think about that next time you contemplate your career choices, when you assess the customers that you choose to keep and the product decisions that you choose to make.

Is what lies behind the door that is in front of you an Asset or a Liability?

Related link:

1. Metamorphosis: Change your Life (real change in 12 mos. or less)

Comments

[Rich]

Good advice, but you ignore the fact that the lessons learned during the detour or dead end are just as valuable as your original destination. But I guess it depends on how you define "destination".

[Mark Sigal]

Actually, I don't. That is the whole point of the asset or liability exercise; namely, pulling into the cognitive state a specific awareness of where a given path is taking you towards.

Sometimes, a path may be arduous but it gets you to where you want to go. I would distinguish that from the after the fact cognition that all experience serves a purpose.

You can be a passenger and experience life or you can be a driver.

Reality is that nothing is absolute but that doesn't obviate the goodness of having the tool in your toolbox.

I appreciate the note, btw.

Mark